Comedian/actor Dan Whitney, who has made a career of playing a comical, blue-collar red-neck named Larry The Cable Guy, says his role in Tyler Perry's new movie "A Medea Christmas," which ranked third last week with $16 million in ticket sales, is a bit of a stretch.

"I play an old redneck man," Whitney says with a laugh, over the phone from his Nebraska home.

If that represents the breadth of Whitney's character range, the comic's just fine with that.

Larry The Cable Guy, with his catchphrase "Git-R-Done," has been a lucrative franchise for Whitney. Seven of his nine comedy albums have hit No. 1 on Billboard's Comedy chart, and three have gone gold.

The character has starred in films such as "Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector," "Delta Farce" and "Witless Protection," as well as in three movies with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with fellow comics Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Ron White.

He's even starred on History channel TV show "Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy."

And, of course, his popular stand-up comedy routine, which he'll bring to Sands Bethlehem Event Center for two shows, at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 28.

In "A Medea Christmas," Whitney plays Buddy, the foil to Perry's Medea, and his character truly is essentially Larry The Cable Guy. In fact, Whitney is listed that way in the movie's credits.

Even when Whitney steps away from Larry The Cable Guy, it's not very far. Perhaps his biggest role aside from Larry is Mater, the lovable tow-truck in Disney's "Cars" series, and it's essentially Larry The Cable Guy toned down for children.

Whitney talked about his career, his many jobs with The Larry character, and the future in a recent telephone call from his house in Nebraska.

Here's a transcript:

LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC: Hey, I was at the movies the other day and I saw a preview for Tyler Perry's "A Medea Christmas," and you are in that.

LARRY THE CABLE GUY: "Yes, I am in that."

So tell me a little bit about that.

"You know, it's awesome. Tyler, he called me up and he said, 'Hey, this will be hilarious. I just had an epiphany – Larry The Cable Guy meets Medea."

Larry the Cable Guy[Laughs]

"And I'm like, 'Yeah, awesome.' So he was, like, a lot of fun. A funny movie, had a great time. I play kind of a stretch of a character. I play an old redneck man."

Oh, yeah.

"[Laughs] But no, it's been a good movie – a lot of fun."

Great. Like you said, it's a stretch. You're going to have to reach down deep inside of yourself for that one. Alright, now tell me about the show you have coming to The Sands. Is it a holiday show?

"Uh, you know, not really. It's just regular stand-up show. I'm sure I'll do a lot of stuff about Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that, but I wouldn't call it a holiday show. I did a holiday show a few years ago. I actually traveled with the Larry The Cable Guy Christmas Show. But no, it's just a regular show.

"But it will be full of cheer and good tidings and joy."

[Laughs] OK. And plenty of presents.

"It's just my regular show. I do have a lot of brand-new jokes every time I perform I like to have a bunch of new jokes. I'm a one-liner comedian, so …but really, there's really no Christmas theme, other than I'm fat like Santa Claus. That's about it."

[Laughs]. Hey, speaking of that, what happened to the Weight Watchers thing?

"Man, that was four years ago. [Laughs]. You know what? I always gain weight in the winter and I lose it in the summer. I've done this for the last 40 years. I always start after my birthday in February and by the time July gets here, I am down about 45-50 pounds, four years in a row."

Hey, you turned 50 this year, right?

"I did turn 50 this year. But I have the a-- of a 20-year old."

[Laughs] Where do you keep it?

[Laughs] People ask me how I stay so young. I say, 'That's easy. I read at a third-grade level.'"

[Laughs] Well congratulations on that. I'm still older. Let me ask you, is your show "Only In America" going to have another season?

"No, I quit doing that show."

Larry The Cable Guy 3What caused you to end it?

"Well, about midway through the thing, they were going to kill me. [Laughs] They were going to have me doing things a 50, out-of-shape guy shouldn't be doing.

"But, you know, I did three seasons, but I was never home. It wasn't the only thing I did. You know, I was home 26 days. At the time, I had a 5- and a 6-year-old. They were just starting school. It wasn't the only thing I did. I mean, if that was the only thing I did, I would continue the show. But it's not the only thing I did. I was on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays I was taping 'Only in America.' I was doing a show on a Friday and a Saturday. Then the other half of the time I was hosting things on Sunday. I'd get home on Sunday night, I'd leave Monday afternoon to do it all over again.